Basketball Wife Says Marriage for All

You really have to love someone to marry them 17 times. That’s what “Basketball Wife” Jackie Christie and her husband, former NBA player Doug Christie will do again this year when they renew their vows as they do annually. But this year’s ceremony comes with a twist – this year the Christies will join people around the country in their support of marriage equality. As much as the Christies love getting married, they think that everyone should have the opportunity. Christie is grateful that her own marriage, notable for its length and for Christie’s assertion that she took extreme lengths to keep her husband from straying, is intact and strong.

“It makes me feel extremely blessed,” Christie said in an interview on Bosschicks.com earlier this year. “I’m not saying our relationship is perfect. Of course we’ve had our ups and downs but those hard times have only made us stronger. I’m thankful that I have a husband who respects me, not only me but women in general. Of course, he’s had women around him, but he respected me enough to say to them “hey you don’t want to do this. I have too much respect for you and for my wife to ever cross that line. I’m married to my best friend, we’ve been married for 16 years and we get re-married every year to celebrate our marriage.”

This year’s wedding took place this past Sunday and promised to be inclusive and supportive of the LGBTQ community. The wedding was filmed, although it’s unclear if it will end up on “Basketball Wives: LA,” which begins its second season later this summer. Christie says she was “pleased” by her portrayal on the show and expects the second season to go well, despite the backlash against the fights and bullying on the “basketball wives” shows.

“I’m a little apprehensive but excited,” she said. “I know that some of the girls might come back and have a few bones to pick and that’s fine. I believe that we are all grown women and should be able to admit to things that we have said. The 'he say, she say,' I don’t deal with it. If you’re grown say 'I said it, because I’m going to put it all on the table.'”

Christie has both a clothing line and a book “Sexual Relations” that deals with couples and intimacy coming out. Christie says that true to their relationship, she and her husband are partners in everything they do. The couple has three children.